{"id":100490,"date":"2024-07-12T02:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T00:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=100490"},"modified":"2024-07-09T12:52:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T10:52:47","slug":"large-gaps-in-european-cities-resilience-to-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/environment\/large-gaps-in-european-cities-resilience-to-extreme-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Large gaps in European cities’ resilience to extreme heat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Sweco report: Large gaps in the resilience of European cities to extreme heat – vulnerable groups in the summer season on the continent: Heat-related mortality increased by about 30% in the last 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe, as the fastest warming continent, faces rising temperatures and heat-related mortalities due to climate change. 2023 saw a record number of days with extreme heat. Sweco\u2019s new analysis <\/a>of 24 European cities* highlights the urgent need for heat wave mitigation and resilience \u2014 through digital innovation, nature-based solutions and green-blue infrastructure as well as through designing high-performing buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Europe is experiencing temperatures rising at twice the global average rate, and heat-related mortality has increased around 30% in the past 20 years. Heatwaves pose significant risks to public health and have a negative effect on infrastructure and economic productivity in urban areas.
 
\u201cEurope is rapidly becoming both hotter and more urbanised at the same time, and its cities need to transform to combat this \u2014 it is not a problem that will go away. Sweco\u2019s new report studying 24 European cities shows that heat-related concerns are often overlooked in climate plans, and that cities in Northen Europe specifically need to prepare better, as they are still designed to protect populations from the cold, not heat. Authorities and policy makers need to look at regulations and act to address heatwaves, this must be included as a key component in the green transition of our urban areas,\u201d says Dr. Katherine Maxwell, Technical Director, Net Zero Cities, Asset Management at Sweco, and one of the main authors behind the report.<\/strong>
  
Today, around 70% of Europeans live in cities and, due to the ongoing urbanisation, this figure is expected to increase to 84% in 2050. Urban areas are now experiencing increasingly higher temperatures compared with rural areas due to climate change and the \u201curban heat island effect\u201d (UHI). Sweco\u2019s report shows that some European cities are taking steps in the right direction to combat the heat, but major gaps still have to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEuropean cities\u2019 climate plans need to focus more on protecting vulnerable groups, by improving the cooling of facilities such as preschools, assisted living facilities and care homes. EUR 680 billion of the EU\u2019s budget is allocated for climate-relevant measures during the 2021\u20132027 period, so there is funding available. It is now time for European cities to level up by implementing new methods that help cool cities. It can be done, and there is an array of solutions for this,\u201d says S\u00e9verine Hermand, Climate resilience planning expert at Sweco, and one of the main authors behind the report.<\/strong>
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweco\u2019s key recommendations in the report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n